Apparatus for pouring varnish upon bodies



March 28, 1961 B. GLAUS 2,976,837

APPARATUS FOR POURING VARNISH UPON BODIES Filed March 25, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F lg. I I1 2 25a 30 I v 35 l 22 INVENTOR. I/drl/ 67a 0.:

March 28, 1961 B. GLAUS 2,976,837

APPARATUS FOR POURING VARNISH UPON BODIES Filed March 25, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 QZID 0 JP Fig.3

INVENTORI ,Bcrn/ nr/ 04 (/1 United States Patent APPARATUS FOR POURING UPON BODIES Bernhard Glaus, St. Gallen, Switzerland, assignor to Ulrich Steinemann Aktiengesellschaft, St. Gallen- Winkeln, Switzerland Filed Mar. 25, 1958, Ser. No. 723,776

Claims priority, application Switzerland July 5, 1957 8 Claims. (Cl. 118-319) The present invention relates to a machine for pouring varnish upon bodies as for instance cabinets for radio sets, television sets and other articles. With such bodies, only some outer surfaces have to be varnished while the bottom and the back wall as a rule remain unvarni'shed. Furthermore, the top is frequently varnished separately. This fact furnishes the possibility to spray or pour varnish upon such bodies while they are rotated so that such bodies can be sprayed or covered with varnish similar to a drum. With a rotating drum, however, the distance from the pouring nozzle remains constant. This is also necessary for a body or housing having a rectangular cross section, which fact so far has prevented such bodies from being sprayed in a rotary process.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement which will make it possible to spray bodies with rectangular cross section while rotating said bodies. i

It is also an object of this invention to provide an arrangement for pouring varnish upon a body with rectangular cross section, which will allow the varnishing of such bodies in a continuous and highly economic manner.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a varnishing machine according to the present invention -in which the varnish discharge nozzle is stationary during the operation of the machine while the surface of the body to be varnished moves away from and toward said nozzle so as to maintain a constant distance with regard thereto.

Fig. 1a shows a detail of the machine of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 2 shows the machine of Fig. 1 as seen in the di-' rection of the arrow A of Fig. l.

. Fig. 3 is a modification of Fig. 1 in which the varnish container and the pouring nozzle are being moved away from and toward the surface to be treated.

Fig. 4 shows a top view of the machine of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows the machine of Fig. 3 as seen in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4.

There are two possibilities available of keeping constant the distance between the pouring or spraying nozzle associated with the varnish container and the surface to be varnished. One possibility consists in moving the pouring nozzle toward and away from thesurface to be treated while the latter is being rotated. The other possibility consists in moving the body to be varnished 'toward and away from the nozzle while the body is rotated. The relative movement of the nozzle and the or table designed as a cam, the outer contour of said- Patented Mar. 28, 1961 ICE pulley rolling on said cam rotates the body to be var nished at a uniform circumferential speed and keeps constant the distance between the surface to be varnished and the varnish discharge nozzle.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the arrangement shown therein comprises a column 2 provided with a foot 1. Mounted on said column 2 in spaced relationship to each other are two rotatable tables or discs 3 and 4 which are connected for instance to two vertical rods 5 and combined therewith to a rotary body rotating about the axis of the column 2. Two slides 6 and 7 are non-rotatably but axially displaceably mounted on the rods 5. The lowermost position of said slides is limited by a collar 5a on said rods or columns 5. Each of the slides 6 and 7 respectively supports a pivot 8 to which a face plate or cam 9 is attached- The periphery or the end face 9a of the face plate 9 has the outer contour of the cross section of the article to be varnished which article is mounted on the face plate in such a manner that the surfaces of the face plate and the surfaces of the article to be varnished are located in one and the same plane. To this end, the face plate 9 is provided with a block 12 on which the article 10 is mounted which may for instance be the cabinet of a radio set. A counter weight may be employed for lifting and lowering the slides 6 and 7. However, it is more suitable instead to employ a pneumatically operable piston 13 which is journalled in a cylinder 14 which latter is clamped to an arm 15 supported by the column 2.

The piston 13 is operated by compressed air supplied to the cylinder 14 by means of an air conduit 14a. The pressure of the air should be chosen in such a manner that the face plate 9 will be slightly forced against a pulley 25. After the cylinder 14 is filled with air, the inlet valve 14b of the air conduit 14a is closed. The air in the cylinder now acts like a compression spring. The application of an air filled cylinder instead of a spring, however, has the advantage that the pressure can be chosen in conformity with the weight of the body to be treated and that the velocity of the downward movement of the piston 13 is controllable so as to prevent the face plate 9 from beating upon the collar 5a.

The air for the cylinder may be supplied from a pump or a container filled with pressurized .air as it is well known in the field of pneumatic equipments.

At the bottom end of the cylinder 14 there is provided an outlet valve 14a which is shown more in detail in Fig. 1a. This valve is forced toward its closing position by a spring 14c, one end of which is connected with a lever 14f. The free arm of the lever 14) is provided with a latch which co-operates with a movable member 14g. The movable member is actuated by a solenoid 14h. When the solenoid 14h is energized, the movable member 14g is forced to move out of engagement with the latch of the lever 14 so that the valve 142 opens.

Each of the slides 6 and 7 is provided with a nose 16 which alternately engage the top surface of the piston 13. For purposes of rotating the columns or rods 5 about the axis of the column 2, the table or disc 3 is provided with a gear ring 17 meshing with a bevel gear 18 which latter is driven by a motor 19 through the intervention of a reducing transmission 20. For purposes of driving the face plate 9 and the article 10 mounted thereon, the peripheral surface 9a is designed forreceiving a belt.

The belt 22 passes over the peripheral surface 911, a

tension roller 23 and at least a guide roller 24, the tension roller 23 and said guide roller 24 serving for holding the belt in taut engagement with the face plate 9. The driving pulley 25 over which the belt 22 passes is stationarily supported and rolls the belt off the peripheral surface tened on the casing of a transmission. Pivotally mounted onthe bolts 24a are arms 28, the free-ends of which carry tension rollers23. The arms 28 are-forced by means of torsion springs 29 to-keepthe belts guided over these rolls tensioned. Mounted on the table or disc 4- and firmly connected thereto is a drive motor 26, which rotates through the transmission 27 and couplings 27a and 27b one of the pulleys 25 or 25a, respectively, i.e. the one which is in its working position. The couplings 27a and 27b are actuated by levers 30, the free arms of which are in engagement with an eccentric disc 31 mounted on the table 4. The motor is switched on by means of a switch 26a and switched off by means of a switch 26b. After the plate was rotated for one revolution, the switch 261; is actuated by a nose 9b arranged at the face plate 9. The switch 26c, when actuated, simultaneously closes a circuit containing the solenoid, which actuates the outlet valve 140 so that the valve opens.

Below the varnish container 32 there is provided a varnish deflecting box 33 which is displaceable on bars 34 by means of rollers 35. The deflection box 33 guides the poured out varnish into a collector box 36 if for some reason the flow of varnish to the article to be varnished is to be interrupted quickly.

The operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 isas follows: A body it) to be treated is mounted on the face plate 9 which is not in its working position. Thereupon, the motor 19 is switched on so that it rotates through the intervention of the bevel gear 18 the tables or discs 3 and 4 by half a revolution so that the article 10 will move below the spray nozzle of the varnish container 32. After the rotation of the discs 3 and 4 by an angle of 180, the motor is switched off'by means ofa switch (not shown) actuated by a nose 3a which is arranged on the disc 3.

Thereupon, the outlet valve 14a is closed and the inlet valve 14b opened so that the air will fiow into the cylinder M. The pressurized air in the cylinder 14 brings about that the piston 13, the slide 6, the face plate 9 and the body to be varnished are raised until the face plate 9 comes into engagement with the pulley 25. By means of the hand actuated switch 26a the motor 26 is now switched on. The coupling 27a facing the varnish container and, accordingly, being in its working position, is actuated by means of the lever 30 attachedthereto and by means of the eccentric 31 so that the pulley25 is rotated. The discharge opening for the nozzle-of the varnish container 32 is opened simultaneously.

During the rotation of the body 10 and during the up and down movement of the axis of the face plate 9 caused by said rotation, the belt 22 is kept tensionedby means of the torsion spring 28 and the tension roll 23.

After the varnishing process has been completed, i.e. after the face plate 9 has been rotated for one revolution, the nose 9b of the face plate 9 comes into engagement with the switch 26c so that the motor 26 is switched off and'the outlet valve 14c opens. The discharge opening of the varnish container 32 is closed simultaneously by hand or automatically. Due to the opening of the outlet valve M0, the piston 13 moves downward until the slide 6 comes into engagement with the collar a, whereupon the process starts again as described.

It is obvious to those skilled in the art that there is the possibility to control the valve 14b, the discharge opening of the varnish container and the motors 19 and 26 electrically so that the operator only has to place and to replace the bodies to be varnished on the face plate 9.

With regard to the modification of Figs. 35 it will be noted that with the modified embodiment of the invention the body to be treated can-only be mounted on the face place after the body, varnished before has been removed. Therefore, the varnishing process with the modified machine takesmore time than the process with the first described machine. "Due to the fact, however, that the production of the modified machine is less expensive it will be preferred in some applications.

The shaft 43 of a face plate or cam 41 carrying the article 421s stationary but rotatably mounted by means of a bearing 44. The plate 41 is rotated by a belt 45 which in turn is driven by a pulley 46. Furthermore, the belt 45 is guided by a roll 47 and kept tensioned by a tension roll 48. The driven pulley 46 and the guiding roll 47 are arranged at one end of an arm 49, the other end of which is rotatably arranged on a sleeve 50, which is firmly fastened in a part of the machine (not shown). The bore of the sleeve 50 serves as a bearing for a shaft 52 one end of which bears a gear or pulley 53 to be driven by a motor and the other end of which carries a pulley 54 which drives the pulley 56 by means of a belt 55. The pulley 56 and the pulley 46 preferably consist of one member'so that the pulley 56, when driven by the belt 55, also drives the pulley 46 and therewith the belt 45. The pulleys 46 and 56 are rotatably arranged on a bolt 57 which is firmly fastened to the arm 49. The guiding roller 47 is rotatably arranged on a bolt 58 which is also fastened to the arm 49. The bolt 53 bears further one end of an arm 59, the other end of which is provided with a tension roller 48. The arm 59 is forced to keep the belt guided'over the roller 48 tensioned by means of a torsion spring 61. When the plate 41 rotates, the pulley 46 is always in contact with the outer surface of the plate and, accordingly, moves up and down according to the form of the article to be varnished. The varnish container 62 has to follow these movements. To effect this, the container is connected to two pairs of parallel arms 63 and 64 in such a manner that the four arms together with the container 62 and the member 65 of the machine form a parallelogram. The arms 64 are connected with the arm 49 by means of a rod 65 and a bolt 67 in such a manner that the varnish container 62 moves up and down with a constant distance in respect to the article 42.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular construction shown in the drawing but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claimis:

1. In an apparatus including a varnish discharging wessel for discharging varnish upon a noncylindricnl work piece to be varnished: rotatable supporting means adapted to receive and rotate a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished and to move the same below said vessel. in spaced relationship thereto, a cam mounted on said supporting means for rotation therewith about the axis of rotation of said supporting means and having a surface corresponding in contour to the outer contour of the surfaceof the work piece to be varnished, driving means in driving engagement with said cam surface for rotating said earn, and thereby said supporting means. said work piece being mountable on said suppo ting: means so as to be coaxial with the axis of rotation of said supporting means, and means for varying the distance between said varnish discharging vessel and the axis of rotation of said supporting means during the rotation of the latter for maintaining the distance between sa d vessel and the respective work piece surface to be varnished substantially constant during the rotation of said work piece.

2. In an apparatus including a varnish dischar ing vessel for discharging varnish upon a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished: rotatable supporting means adapted to receive and rotate a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished and to move the same below said vessel in spaced relationship thereto, a cam mounted on said supporting means for rotation therewith about the axis of rotation of said supporting means and having a can), surface corresponding,incontour to the outer contour of the surface of the work piece to be varnished, driving means including an endless belt passing over and frictionally engaging said cam surface for rotating said cam and thereby said supporting means, said work piece being mountable on said supporting means so as to be coaxial with the axis of rotation of said supporting means, at least one tension roller engaging said belt and continuously urging the same into taut engagement with said cam surface, at least one guiding roller engaging said endless belt for guiding the same along a certain path, and means for varying the distance between said varnish discharging vessel and the axis of rotation of said supporting means during the rotation of the latter for maintaining the distance between said vessel and the respective work piece surface to be varnished substantially constant during the rotation of said work piece.

3. An arrangement according to claim 2, in which said cam is in form of a pulley rotatable about a horizontal axis.

4. In an apparatus including a varnish discharging vessel for discharging varnish upon a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished: rotatable supporting means adapted to receive and rotate a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished and to move the same below said vessel in spaced relationship thereto, a cam mounted on said supporting means for rotation therewith about the axis of rotation of said supporting means and having a cam surface corresponding in contour to the outer contour of the surface of the work piece to be varnished, driving means drivingly engaging said cam surface for rotating said cam and thereby said supporting means, said work piece being mountable on said supporting means so as to be coaxial with the axis of rotation of said sup porting means, and sliding means arranged to reciprocate toward and away from said varnish discharging vessel and carrying said supporting means for maintaining the distance between said vessel and the respective surface of the work piece to be varnished substantially constant during the rotation of said work piece.

5. In an apparatus including a varnish discharging vessel for discharging varnish upon a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished: a supporting column, two reciprocable slides arranged on diametrically opposite sides of said column in longitudinal direction thereof and supported by said column to rotate about the axis thereof, each of said slides being provided with a pivot, a pair of cams respectively supported by said pivots and rotatable about the axis thereof, each of said cams having a cam surface corresponding in contour to the outer contour of the surface of the work piece to be varnished, driving means drivingly engaging said earns, a pair of rotatable shafts respectively connected to said cams for rotation therewith, each of said shafts being adapted to receive and support a work piece to be varnished for rotation with said shafts, and means including fluid pressure operable means for varying the distance between said varnish discharging vessel and the axis of rotation of said rotatable shafts during the rotation of the latter for maintaining the distance between said vessel and the respective work piece surface to be varnished of a work piece on the respective rotatable shaft substantially constant during the rotation of said work piece.

6. In an apparatus including a varnish discharging vessel for discharging varnish upon a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished: rotatable supporting means adapted to receive and rotate a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished and to move the same below said vessel in spaced relationship thereto, a first pulley mounted on said supporting means for rotation therewith about the axis of rotation of said supporting means and having an outer contour corresponding to the outer contour of the surface of the work piece to be varnished, said work piece being mountable on said supporting means so as to be coaxial with the axis of rotation of said supporting means, a second pulley having its central plane through the peripheral surface thereof substantially aligned with the central plane through the peripheral surface of said first pulley, driving means drivingly connected to said second pulley, a belt frictionally engaging the periphenal surfaces of said first and second pulleys to thereby drivingly interconnect the same, and fluid pressure operable means continuously urging said first pulley and the belt portion passing thereover against said second pulley for continuously maintaining driving connection between said pulleys and for maintaining thedistance between said vessel and the respective work piece surface to be varnished substantially constant during the rotation of said work piece.

7. In an apparatus including a varnish discharging vessel for discharging varnish upon a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished: a supporting column, two reciprm cable slides arranged on diametrically opposite sides of said column in longitudinal direction thereof and supported by said column to rotate about the axis thereof, each of said slides being provided with a pivot, a pair of first pulley members respectively supported by said pivots and rotatable about the axis thereof, each of said first pulley members having a peripheral surface corresponding in contour to the outer contour of the surface of the work piece to be varnished, a pair of shafts respectively connected to said first pulley members for rotation therewith, each of said shafts being adapted to receive and support a work piece to be varnished for rotation with said shafts, a pair of second pulley members arranged diametrically opposite each other with regard to the langitudinal axis of said column for respective driving engagement with the peripheral surface of said first pulley members, motor means drivingly connected to said second pulley members, coupling means interposed between said motor means and said second pulley members and operable alternately to eifect driving connection of one of said second pulley members with said motor means while interrupting driving connection between the latter and the other one of said second pulley members, and means for varying the distance between said varnish discharging vessel and the axis of rotation of the respective shaft being rotated during the rotation of said last mentioned shaft so as to maintain the distance between said vessel and the respective work piece surface to be varnished substantially constant during the rotation of said work piece.

8. In an apparatus including a varnish discharging vessel for discharging varnish upon a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished: supporting means stationarily supported and rotatably supporting a non-cylindrical work piece to be varnished, a cam having a cam surface corresponding in contour to the outer contour of the surface of the work piece to be varnished for rotatable connection with the work piece to be varnished, a parallelogram structure supporting said varnish discharging vessel above the work piece to be varnished, pulley means supported by said parallelogram structure and continuously urged toward said cam surface to thereby vary the distance between said varnish discharging vessel and said cam, driving means, and an endless belt drivingly connected to said driving means and passing over said pulley means and the cam surface of said cam for rotating the latter and thereby said work piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,387,964 Bourn Aug. 16, 1921 1,828,855 Bourn Oct. 27, 1931 1,945,086 Schmitt Jan. 30,1934 2,284,366 Bryant May 26, 1942 2,287,356 Newman June 23, 1942 2,316,959 Hinkley Apr. 20, 1943 

